


swallowin' the nights like we had nine lives

by aletterinthenameofsanity



Series: if this love is pain (then darling let's love tonight) [20]
Category: Druck | SKAM (Germany), SKAM (France), SKAM (Italy), SKAM (Netherlands), SKAM (Norway), SKAM Austin, Skam (Mexico), WTFock | Skam (Belgium)
Genre: ALSO MORE FEMALE EVAKS, BECAUSE OUR GIRL DESERVES IT, Cooking, Depression, F/F, I LOVE CRISANA BUT GOD GIVE ME MORE PLS, M/M, Matteo & Shay bromance for the win, Matteo being an oblivious disaster gay, Michaël was the writer so these Evens get to have other art forms, New Evens and one of them is a cook and one of them is a dancer, SHAY GETS HERSELF AN EVEN, also the idea of Matteo just accidentally stumbling onto another counterpart, because i will start randomly assigning art forms to every Even we don't get, cook!Even, cooking school, dancer!Even, has me ASCENDING, i mean they can in canon but this is my universe SO, matteo has a depressive episode, me randomly resurrecting the joke abt if David or Matteo is the Even, new Evens and Isaks!, pov matteo, they can't all be film nerds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:14:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22484695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aletterinthenameofsanity/pseuds/aletterinthenameofsanity
Summary: Looking back, it really should have been obvious just who Flora was- but in Matteo’s defense, at the same time that he and Flora were hitting off in their Fusion cooking class, David and his counterparts had discovered Claire and Shay, who were most definitely their American counterparts. Matteo's friendship with a girl in his cooking class was easy to ignore- and when it was noticed, most of the squad were just happy that he had made a new friend for the first time since high school (because no, the squad doesn't count, according to a teasing David).But at the end of the day, there are certain things that the squad isn't really known for noticing unless they are set directly under their noses. And this- this is definitely one of those things.(In which Matteo is an oblivious gay, but so are all of his counterparts, too, so he really can't be blamed for missing the obvious.)
Relationships: Cristina "Cris" Soto Peña/Joana Bianchi Acosta, Flora Alvarez/Elena Velasquez, Matteo Florenzi & Original Female Character, Matteo Florenzi & Shay Dixon, Matteo Florenzi/David (Druck), Minor or Background Relationship(s), Original Female Character/Original Female Character, Shay Dixon/Claire Cho, Shay Dixon/Original Female Character
Series: if this love is pain (then darling let's love tonight) [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550230
Comments: 11
Kudos: 66





	swallowin' the nights like we had nine lives

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from "Old-Fashioned" by Panic! at the Disco.
> 
> Here is the long-promised Shay fic...with a twist! Hope you guys enjoy- it was a bit of a ride getting here, I've gotta admit, but I really enjoyed writing this and so I hope you guys will too.

_The storm is coming but I don't mind_

_People are dying, I close my blinds_

_I want to change the world_

_Instead I sleep_

_I want to believe in more than you and me_

_But all that I know is I'm breathing_

_All I can do is keep breathing_

_All we can do is keep breathing now_

**_-Ingrid Michaelson,_ Keep Breathing**

Looking back, it really should have been obvious just who Flora was- but in Matteo’s defense, at the same time that he and Flora were hitting off in their Fusion cooking class, David and his counterparts had discovered Claire and Shay, who were most definitely their American counterparts. Matteo's friendship with a girl in his cooking class was easy to ignore- and when it _was_ noticed, most of the squad were just happy that he had made a new friend for the first time since high school (because no, the squad doesn't count, according to a teasing David).

But at the end of the day, there are certain things that the squad isn't really known for noticing unless they are set directly under their noses. And this- this is definitely one of those things.

-

Matteo meets Flora Alvarez the first day of the Spring Semester in his Fusion cooking class. She's his assigned partner for the semester and she arrives at the table he's sitting at, trying to blink his way through the hangover he's suffering from after he, OG Lucas, and Isak went drinking last night.

He doesn't learn her name at first, though. Instead, his hungover brain gets to take in this woman in front of him who's arching an eyebrow at him. “Have a little fun over the weekend, compañero?” she asks, and his gaze sweeps over her and her rather interesting outfit- a black and silver plaid button-down paired with a bright red skirt over black and white skull-print leggings, over all of which hangs their uniform yellow aprons, a combination that really should be blinding to the eyeballs but somehow suits her several silver hoop earrings, dark ponytail, and matching septum piercing.

Matteo just gives her a small, smug smile as he remembers the New Year’s Eve party they’d all had at Nico and Marti’s, the now 7/7 squad all hanging out together. “Plenty.” He holds out a lazy hand. “Matteo Florenzi. You?”

The woman lets out a small snort and shakes his hand. “Flora Alvarez,” she says. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

Matteo shakes his head. “I’m from Berlin.” He can’t deny the small hint of satisfaction he feels at the small shock displayed on her face. “You?”

“Las Ciudad de Mexico.” At his blank looks, she just sighs. “It’s a city in South America.”

Ah. “Cool.” He goes back to slumping against the table- an age-old habit that has not been broken by two years of cooking classes.

Flora arches an eyebrow but doesn't call him out- a gesture that Matteo can't help but be thankful for.

-

Flora phone vibrates as they’re leaving class and she flips it open to check who it is- yes, _flips_ it open, as she has a phone as ancient as Nico’s before he decided to get a smartphone so that he could actually be a part of the groupchat. He gets a glimpse of a photo of a woman blowing the camera a kiss- a woman dressed in mostly shades of yellow, who looks like the very embodiment of sunshine.

“Who’s that?” Matteo asks, unable to resist his innate curiosity about why such a sunshiney woman is on the phone of someone as “goth” as Flora.

For the first time since they’ve met, Flora’s expression melts into something soft and fond as she opens up the text on her phone, making the woman’s photo disappear. (In this moment, she almost reminds him of David. Almost, though. Not really. Anyone in love tends to remind him of David, really.)

Flora hesitates for only a moment before looking up at Matteo. “My girlfriend,” she says, looking up at him with a guarded expression, as if she expects some kind of homophobic reaction from him.

Which, of course, Matteo isn’t going to give her. “That’s cool,” he says, “My boyfriend’s my home screen, too.”

Flora’s expression relaxes as Matteo pulls his phone out of his pocket to show her the photo of David that he took a few weeks after David's top surgery, one where David wore a fucking gorgeous dark blue button-up tailored to his new body for the first time. David's smile had been blinding- and Matteo's hadn't been much better, if he's honest.

"He's kinda cute," Flora says with a shrug. "I mean, Elena's the one for me and all, but..."

Matteo gives her a similar shrug. "I mean, I'm gay, but you're girlfriend's kinda nice-looking and all too." He can practically hear Hans' pride in Matteo saying those words aloud, even after all these years of him and David being together.

Flora snorts. "Elena's fucking gorgeous, thank you very much, but then again my perspective is a bit different than yours. I'm pan, after all."

"Nice," Matteo says, thinking about Even and Nico and David and Eliott, all of whom identify the same as her. Joana and Sander both identify as bi, while Michaël identifies as ace (and panromantic, so maybe he counts towards that total, too).

Flora looks at him, a small smile starting to grow on her lips. "You know, Matteo," she says, "You're not half bad."

Matteo grins. "Danke."

-

“You’ll never guess what happened in the computer lab today,” David says the instant Matteo picks him up from class.

“What?” Matteo asks, used to his boyfriend’s without-preamble style of commenting.

“We met another one of our counterparts,” David says, and, well, all thoughts of his strange new cooking partner (and maybe friend) fly out of Matteo’s mind.

“No shit, really?”

David nods as they head for the bus. “She said she was going to audition for the parts when we cast them, but that her girlfriend had gotten sick right during the auditions and so she couldn't make it. She then proceeded to inform Nico, Joana, and I that the story felt a little too familiar to her." David gives Matteo that smug smile of his that always makes Matteo want to grab his face and make out with him on the spot. "Turns out her girlfriend and her had their first kiss in a pool in Texas.”

Matteo’s brow furrows. Geography was never his best subject, but- “Isn’t that in _America_?”

David nods. “She met her girlfriend, Shay, in high school back in America- while Shay was still in the closet and Claire was dating a boy. First hang out with weed, first kiss in a pool after a disastrous double date, etc. down the line.”

“I didn’t know we existed outside of Europe.” Looking back at the assumption, it seems a rather dumb one to make, but they haven’t really met anyone who _isn't_ from Europe yet, so Matteo doesn't think he can get blamed for the assumption.

David raises an eyebrow as they arrive at the bus stop. "Why didn't you think so?"  
  
Matteo shrugs. "I dunno. Previous evidence?"

David snorts. "You've been spending too much time with your counterparts, schatz. They're rubbing off on you."

Matteo's brow furrows as the bus pulls up. "How?"

"You're starting to talk like a scientist."

Matteo elbows David as they get on the bus. "Take that back."

David smirks. "Make me."

And, well, Matteo's all too willing to kiss his boyfriend as they make their way to the other art school to meet Claire and Shay.

-

“This is Claire and Shay,” David says, gesturing to an Asian girl and a dark-skinned girl with braids sitting on the common room couch half an hour later. “They’re our American counterparts.”

“So you’ve already explained this whole thing to them?” Matteo asks, and the Asian girl nods, smiling at him while the girl with braids looks him up and down, eyes narrowed as if evaluating him.

“As much as they could have,” the Asian girl says, standing up to offer a hand to him. “Claire Cho. I’m a dancer and apparently David and the others’ counterpart. You must be Matteo.”

Matteo glances down at the couch, at Shay- who must be his counterpart, if Claire is David’s- who's looking at him with an appraising smile.

“What’s your Minute?” Matteo can’t help but ask with the lack of tact he’s never seemed to have gained.

Claire’s expression doesn’t slump, not exactly, but her smile _does_ shift a little, only pulling itself back up when she glances back to Shay, who gives her a reassuring nod. "I'm bipolar," she says, "Just like I've heard some of you are."

"Even and Eliott will be glad to hear it," Matteo says just as the door opens to Cris and Joana.

“It’s nice to finally have some other girls,” Cris says as she barrels into the room with a grin on her lips. “I’m Cris, and this is my girlfriend, Joana, and I absolutely love the boys but there were _definitely_ getting to be too many of them- no offense, David, Matteo.”

“None taken,” David says mildly as Cris high-fives Shay and Claire, continuing to ramble on to them as Joana enters the room behind her, smile on her lips.

“You introduce the girls to Matteo?” Joana asks David, and Matteo nods. Joana smiles at him. "I think you and Shay'll get along great, Matteo."

Shay grins at Matteo, smile all teeth. "Cool beans," she says in English, American accent bleeding through strong. Then, in Flemish: "I heard you're studying cooking."

"More like David can never shut up about Matteo, right?" Cris asks, plopping down on the sofa opposite Shay and Claire, and Shay smirks.

"No, he really can't," Shay says, and David looks to Matteo and smiles.

"How could I when I'm dating the best boyfriend in the world?" David asks.

"Don't listen to them," Cris says, "We all know that the best boyfriend in the world is Even, anyway."

"That's debatable," Matteo and Joana say in unison, then grin at each other.

"Seriously, though, don't listen to Cris," David says, "Wait until you meet everyone yourself to decide who's the best boyfriend."

"Oh, this is gonna be fun," Claire says with a grin as she exchanges a look with her girlfriend.

-

“So why’d you move to Belgium?” Matteo asks a week and a half into class, after he's gotten to know Flora a little better.

Flora’s really good at cooking, with a real flair for presentation. While Matteo is mainly focused on just finding whatever tastes the best, aiming eventually to determine what foods would be best for some one day restaurant he might open (that’s the dream, at least), Flora has a sense of style that has already led their partnered creations to be lauded for their look as well as their taste.

“Mexico isn’t the best place in the world to be bi and proud,” Flora says, and Matteo recognizes the forced tone of levity in her voice. “They’re getting better, but Belgium had a bit of a reputation for being a bit more...liberal and open, should we say? I mean, there's still violence and shit here-" And god, doesn't Matteo know, after what happened to Robbe and Sander. "But my girlfriend wanted to go to med school and got a scholarship to the one here in the city." Flora lists off a med school that Matteo distantly recognizes as the one that Lucas is attending. "So we came here."

"My boyfriend got into art school while I was on gap year, so I can relate," Matteo says, "I'm from Germany, so I didn't cross oceans, but, you know."

Flora lets out a tiny snort and nods. "Yeah," she says, a hint of wry humor to her voice, "I know."

(Her sarcastic sense of humor kind of reminds him of Marti, distantly, in a way, even if the way she talks reminds him far more of Even when he gets excited and passionate about art, all fiery passion and defense.)

-

“Those idiots don’t respect the art of cooking,” Flora snorts by his side as the two guys at the end of their table fuck up their flavor profile for the millionth time. “They don’t understand that you have to _respect_ the cultures you’re working with and understand why they work the way they do before you can just combine the flavors and textures every which way."

Matteo nods and looks down at the written recipes that they’ve been working with, where Italian noodle shapes are going to be combined with German ingredients and Mexican spices. A hard hybrid to accomplish, to be sure, but they're doing a lot of practice and using a methodical system to go through and try things out that could almost be compared to one of his counterparts' research designs in his organization.

"Seriously," Flora continues, "It's a fucking art form and you don't just fuck up art like that."

"My friends always said it was more of a science," Matteo says absently, thinking of his various counterparts' discussions over how Matteo ended up on such a different path than the rest of them. It's honestly been kind of fun, the years-long justifications from Cris, Marti, Isak, and Lucas as to how what Matteo's doing in life is _actually_ the same as them, if you "just look at it the right way, Matteo, stop laughing whenever we say that you're just like us." 

Flora snorts. "They can think that if they want, Matteo, but they're wrong. Cooking can be just as much of an art form as filmmaking or drawing or dancing or writing or whatever you think of as art. It expresses how you feel for people and helps convey emotion."

"But there are rules, aren't there?"

"As if directing or art or writing don't have rules? And besides, the best art is made when you break the rules." She gestures to the table in front of them with a smile. "Just like we are."

And, well, Matteo has to give her that one.  
  
-

Matteo doesn't go into school the next Monday. He would have if he could have, but he wakes up that morning and-

The world is pressing down on him. It's heavier than it has been in months. He can't summon up the motivation to do _anything_ , to get himself to even move his limbs to go use the restroom.

(His meds have mostly kept this from happening over the past year, as have his regular therapy visits, but today is a Bad Day of the sort that he hasn't really had since he and David first moved to Antwerp and he knows he won't be able to get through it.)

David takes one look at Matteo and leans over and presses a soft kiss to his forehead. "I'll text everyone and email your professors," David says as Matteo just curls in deeper under his blankets, his very limbs dragging him down. Everything feels foggy and heavy, and David's light kiss is the only thing that makes Matteo feel like he's not drowning. "Want me to text Flora that you won't be in class this week?" David asks, and Matteo can barely manage a nod. He doesn't think he entirely manages it, in the end, but David and him have been together for long enough that David understands, grabbing Matteo's phone from the bedside table and sending off the necessary texts and emails like the angel he is.

And thus starts a modern day "hell week" of sorts.

For the rest of the week, David never turns the light on to get dressed, instead changing in the dark and bringing Matteo glasses of water and simple foods that take barely any effort to get down.

Matteo's only one of two of his counterparts with an MI, he knows, and the only one of their group at all to have depression. Bipolar, borderline, PTSD- those are all shared between at least two of the group. Depression, though- it's just him, all alone, sitting weighed down by his thoughts and his body and his entire world.

But that doesn't stop all of David's counterparts from visiting, from _understanding_.

Unlike usual, none of them are loud and boisterous and expressive- instead, they are content to sit quietly at the desk in David and Matteo's room, talking quietly with David about film shots and compositions as David stays by Matteo's side, sometimes spooning him and sometimes just sitting by his side, legs pressed against Matteo's back in a gesture that is about as much physical contact as he can handle right now (but also, paradoxically, David's legs against his back grounds him, too).

They don't expect him to talk- even Claire and Michaël, the newbies, don't press- and Matteo appreciates that, tucked under the sheets and stuck in his mind as he is. The low rumble of noise from their conversations, though- it's comforting, in a way, helping keep Matteo grounded in a way that he appreciates.

-

After the lowest part of the downswing, when Matteo sleeps his way through all of Wednesday, he blinks open crusty eyes to find David curled against Matteo's back, holding his hand even in his sleep.

"Water?" Matteo manages to rasp, and David startles upward, pulling away just long enough to grab a glass of water from the bedside table and handing it over to Matteo. Matteo drinks it, thankful, before handing it back. David places it back on the bedside table before moving to sit next to Matteo, running his fingers through Matteo's hair- which has got to be disgusting by now, considering how long he's been laying in this bed for.

"Whenever you feel up to it, you should probably take a shower," David says, "I know those make you feel better."

"What?" Matteo says quietly, feeling a smile tug at his lips for the first time in days, "You saying I stink?"

David nudges at his shoulder- not hard, like he usually would, but still a decent enough shove to help Matteo feel a little more like normal. "I'm saying that by this point, even post-gym Nico and Isak smell better than you."

"Take that back," Matteo says, the words coming slow from his mouth despite him feeling marginally less heavy.

"I'll take it back when you take the shower, love," David says, voice soft and understanding as he always is after one of Matteo's episodes. It reminds Matteo of just how different each of their counterparts are, about just how different Matteo and David are- it's usually Matteo's counterparts that use that kind of tone, that carefully measured, kind tone after someone's had an episode. Matteo knows he has his own version of it, even if he's nowhere near being able to pull it off in the state he's in right now.

Matteo swallows and moves slightly backward so that more of his body is touching David's. "Just...hold me for a minute," he says, and within moments David is back to spooning Matteo, fingers still reaching up and playing with his hair.

"Anytime, schatz."

-

When Matteo shows up for class on Friday, Flora gives him a quick glance-over before saying: "You know, I understand."

Matteo's brow furrows. He's still tired, the last vestiges of the depressive state still clinging to his brain. "Understand what?"

"I have depression, too," Flora says, gaze sympathetic. "It was a real bitch in high school- nearly drove me away from my girlfriend when I tried to protect her from it- but since I've started going to therapy and taking meds it's gotten a lot better."

Matteo's not very talkative on the days after his depression flares up, so he just nods, and she gives him a small smile, a smile that is soft and bright and understanding in a rather familiar way that he can't quite name when his mind is as fucked as it currently is.

-

Matteo really should have noticed then. Really should have. Later on, when he and Shay make the connection, he'll wonder how he didn't piece it together then.

But when Matteo considers the fact that Flora _literally came over_ to his house the next weekend and worked with him on experimenting for their project, even giving one of her mini-lectures on the art of cooking while working out their spice combination for their pasta, and no one else in the room caught onto it- not David or Eliott or Michaël, all hashing out the details of character design that they’re all stuck on for this one scene- and he really doesn’t feel so bad about not noticing. Because the people who should have been able to recognize Flora for who she really is were right there, and they weren’t really paying attention either.

When Matteo walked Flora to the door at the end of the night- they'd finished with their cooking a couple of hours ago and were able to use David, Eliott, and Michaël as their test subjects. The boys had loved the food and Matteo and Flora had decided the night was a success.

"Wait a moment," Matteo said, brow furrowing. "Are we friends?"

Flora smirked. "You're an idiota, you know that, right?"

Matteo gave her the smallest of smiles. "I've been told that before."

Flora elbowed him in the side. "Yeah, we're friends, Matteo."

"Good," Matteo says with a far brighter smile.

-

Matteo finally starts to pick up on the clues when Shay comes over to visit- because apparently her and Claire’s place is really small, somehow smaller than David and Matteo’s tiny studio apartment- and it’s the same time that Flora’s over, sitting at the table with him playing cards while waiting for the pasta to bake properly.

“Oh, shit, man,” Shay says, “Am I interrupting something?”

Flora shakes her head. “Nah, you’re good. You can’t be any worse than the last time I came and Matteo’s boyfriend and his friends were working on their movie.”

“Cool beans,” Shay says in English, with that American accent of hers, and then pushes herself up onto the far counter. Then, in Dutch: “What are you guys making, anyway?”

“We’re working on a fusion dish for our cooking class," Matteo answers, setting down the Three of Clubs, "Trying to blend Italian, German, and Mexican cuisine together to create a menu for a dinner."

"That sounds pretty fucking awesome," Shay says, "Claire worked part-time for a combo Korean-Mexican place back in Austin that fucking _rocked_ , man. Hybrid foods are great."

"You have a girlfriend, too?" Flora asks, raising an eyebrow, and Shay's expression goes all lovesick and fond for a minute.

"Yep," Shay says, "And she's the most wonderful woman in the world."

"I'd have to disagree on that one," Flora says as she plays an Ace- fuck it all, she's going to win this hand. "My girlfriend's the most wonderful woman in the world."

"Agree to disagree," Shay says with a shrug. One thing that Matteo's noticed over the past couple of months is that Shay is, despite her devotion to her studies, a lot more easygoing than most of his counterparts- probably why he and her get along so well, honestly.

-

When Flora and Shay leave at the end of the night, Matteo finds himself answering a rather strange text from Shay.

**Chat: matteohno, shay_dee_bootie**

**Matteo dude ur friend Flora- did u say she had a girlfriend**

**yeah, Flora has a girlfriend- why?**

**because she said something that caught my attention. abt her and her girlfriend**

**what?**

**oh, nothing**

**aight**

**dude, i love u** ****

**same**

-

When Flora misses a week’s worth of class with next to no explanation, Matteo remembers David running away. He remembers the various episodes that he has been the partial witness of for multiple of David’s counterparts over the years. He remembers Flora's own admission about her depression.

And he starts thinking about a lot of things. About patterns and parallels and a shitton of other things.

But then Flora shows back up to class on the same day that Claire starts her own episode, Shay letting them all know that it's a manic one and that she can handle it, that she _has_ been handling it, and Matteo’s mind is almost too distracted to puzzle out another part of the puzzle. He's almost too distracted to start to piece together Flora's depression and his own, Flora's girlfriend and Shay's girlfriend, comments about art and science that sound just a bit too familiar.

(Not quite, though.)

-

Everything really starts to come together the night that they all go to the club together, the now sixteen of them- Matteo, David, Nico, Even, Isak, Marti, Cris, Joana, Robbe, Sander, Eliott, Lucas L, Lucas VDH, Michaël, Shay, and Claire.

(They’ve got enough people to rent out an entire bus for a road trip, and almost too many people to fit into the common room, anymore. They’ve had to lug in a few extra beanbags in order to fit the extra couples.)

“You know who you should invite?” Shay asks Matteo, sitting on the bar stool next to him.

“Who?” he asks, halfway to hammered, a few drinks in.

“Your friend Flora, from your cooking class.”

Lucas- the French one, the first one, the one that’s as tiny as Matteo and Shay and feistier than any of them- nods from Matteo’s other side, lowering his can of beer from his lips. “You keep talking about this friend of yours. It’s kinda getting annoying, honest. Let us all meet her already."

"Alright, fine, man," Matteo says with sigh, raising his phone. "I'll text her. Anything to get annoyances like you off my back."

Lucas grins at Matteo. "Thanks," he says with a face that somehow managed to get plenty of girls (and Eliott) into him back in lycee- Matteo has no idea how, considering his counterpart lacks so much charm.

(Then again, _Matteo_ managed to get a girlfriend- and David- before his abi, so he's not sure he's really one to call out Lucas.)

**Chat: florasdemayo, matteohno**

**I’m only coming if I can bring my girlfriend.**

**bring her**

**none of my friends care**

**Alright. Send me the address.**

-

It’s only now, when Matteo sees Flora and her girlfriend walking in hand-in-hand, that everything falls completely into place. He sees the way that Flora and Elena look at each other, the way they act around each other, the way that Flora smiles and Elena rolls her eyes and the way their eyes find each others' even in a crowded room and-

“Oh, shit,” he mutters, “I’m a fucking idiot.”

Shay grins at him. “Yeah, you are. I figured it out within a few hours.”

“In my defense,” Matteo says, though he knows it’s not much of one. “You and Claire kinda distracted me.”

David appears by Matteo’s side, and the sight of him like this, all sweaty with his curls bouncing because of all the dancing he’s been doing, would usually be the ultimate distraction. “Figured what out?”

“Matteo!” Flora shouts, dragging her girlfriend over, a girlfriend who is definitely a bit more fashionable than most of Matteo’s counterparts, that’s for sure. She doesn’t have Cris and Shay’s more easy wlw (as they call it through shared winks) style. Isak and Robbe certainly couldn’t hope to compete, what with their enduring love for the skater aesthetic. Marti and Matteo’s style is too grandpa, in two very different ways, while Lucas’ eternal love of sweatpants bumps up against any hope he has of being a style icon.

Elena’s pleated pink-skirt-over-black-tights look complete with red heels and a red halter top, on the other hand, definitely speak to a more fashionable side- as do the silver earrings on her ears, a few of which actually seem to match Flora’s.

(Marti and Nico will be so happy to find that out).

“Meet Elena, my girlfriend. Elena, meet Matteo and his boyfriend, David.” Flora’s eyes alight on the girl next to Matteo. “And Shay, one of Matteo’s best friends. She’s the one I mentioned a few weeks ago.”

Elena looks over the two of them and the two of them look her over as David guilelessly steps forward and shakes Flora and Elena’s hands. "Nice to meet you," Elena says with a smile that's a little less easy than Flora's, a smirk that would easily seat itself on Isak or Lucas' faces.

"David Schreibner," David says with an easier smile than he once introduced himself to Stefan. He's grown so much since then- they both have- and Matteo can't help but smile at his boyfriend as he adds: "Matteo's boyfriend."

"Oh, trust me," Flora says, "He's definitely made us aware of that fact."

David glances at Matteo, giving him a fond side-smile before saying, "He talks about me much?"

"Much?" Flora says with a snort, "How about _every fucking day_?"

"As if you don't talk about Elena that much," Matteo says, wondering once again how the pieces of the puzzle didn't smack him in the face before now. He knows he's oblivious, but _this_ \- god, this is Griet levels of oblivious.

Flora shrugs. "Touche," she says, and Elena smiles at her like she's hung the moon- a smile so familiar that Matteo could be looking in the mirror.

-

By now, Matteo's figured it out. Shay's figured it out.

By the end of the party, David and Claire both know what's going on, thanks to Shay and Matteo whispering in their ears throughout the night, but as for the rest of the group- they don't know it, yet. They haven't figured it out.

And to be honest, Matteo is more than willing to wait the situation out. He's got plenty of time, after all.

And besides, this is the perfect opportunity for a bet as to how long it will take until they discover their next set of counterparts- and this time he's not splitting the pot with Marti, he's splitting it with Shay.

(Of their newest counterparts, Lucas VDH is probably a Slytherin. Shay's a Ravenclaw, though she's cunning enough to be a Slytherin at times. Claire's a Gryffindor and Michaël is a Hufflepuff.

Matteo just has to wonder what House their newest friends might fit into.)

-

The entire squad assembles in Nico and Marti's apartment a week before Matteo and Flora's final in order to be test subjects for their planned courses (and, of course, the perfect opportunity for Shay and Matteo to collect on the betting pool that's been growing ever since Shay and Claire joined the squad).

"So, Elena," Shay says halfway through the soup course, a shit-eating grin on her lips, "What do you think about parallel universes?"

Matteo snorts as he watches the various expressions of shock around the room. Some people's jaws drop, some forks fall from hands, Cris snorts out the beer she'd been drinking and Joana has to hand her a napkin to clean up.

Michaël and Eliott, however, don't seem too shocked- it seems like they actually _did_ figure it out along the way.

Elena, on the other hand, just looks to Flora with a small smile on her lips. "Flora and I have a long running theory about that."

"More like _you_ have a theory about it," Flora corrects, a fond smile on her face as she does so, just like Matteo knew Elena would. In every scenario save Marti and Matteo's- who didn't have parallel universe theories to begin with- it's always Matteo's counterpart who has the theory.

"You know," Even says, seeming to have gotten over the shock quicker than anyone else, "Isak and I have a theory about parallel universes. Isak likes to say that there's another universe out there where we're together, except in that one there are yellow curtains."

Isak and Martino share a smirk over that- everyone knows that Nico and Martino's bedroom curtains are yellow and have been since back in Italy, back in Nico's bedroom in Rome- while Flora's expression shifts in dawning recognition.

"You do?" she asks, looking to Matteo, and despite the fact that she's David's counterpart and not his he still gets her, anyway- she _was_ his friend first, after all.

"Not me," he says, "But Robbe and Lucas do, too."

"So do I," Elena says with wide eyes, "But our curtains were purple, not yellow."

"And my alternate counterparts were numbered, no curtains involved," Lucas says with a shrug, and both Elena and Flora glance at each other, eyes wide.

"Do we have a lot to tell you, ladies," David says with a smile before turning to the rest of the group. "And do all of you owe us a few euros."

"Shit, they bet tonight," Marti mutters, eyes narrowing at Matteo and Shay, who just smirks.

"Got you back, Marti," Matteo says with a winning smile, and Marti flips him off.

"I thought that was supposed to be Robbe and Lucas' job, though," Nico says, eyes gleaming even as various people around the room grumble and start peeling euros out of pockets- which is _definitely_ going to a date night this time.

"But back to you two," Isak says, managing to slip Matteo a small glare as he turns to Flora and Elena. "How would you feel if we told you that your parallel universe theory was true- or, at least, that you had parallel counterparts living in this world?"

"Honestly?" Flora asks, gaze flicking from Isak to Shay, "Not too shocked." She looks to Matteo and David, takes a deep breath, and says: "My only question is: is Matteo or David my parallel version?"

"We've been discussing that for the past couple of years, to be honest," Joana says, "But if you're pan or bi, have an interest in art, have an MI, _weren't_ in the closet when your relationship started, hid a rather big secret from Elena that nearly killed your relationship before it began, and are the older one in the relationship, then you're likely David's." She grins at Flora. "And mine." She counts off on her fingers as she lists: "And Nico, Even, Eliott, Sander, Claire, and Michaël's."

"Then that answers that question," Elena says, tone not very shocked. That's not too much of a surprise, though- none of them were very surprised when they all figured it out or were told, either. "Flora, your new best friend is _my_ alternate counterpart."

"New best friend?" Matteo asks, a rather happy smile spreading over his lips, and Flora's cheeks flush.

"Shut up, you idiota," she says to Matteo, and he knows she means _yes._

"So," Elena says, taking another bite of her food, "How'd you all figure this out?"

Lucas snorts. "Well," he says, "It's kind of a funny story."

"A _long_ story," Marti agrees, gaze sweeping over all of them and all of the various additions that have been added to the squad over the years. Marti, Lucas, Isak, and Cris were the first of Matteo's counterparts to move to Antwerp, with David and Matteo at a weird spot in the middle, with Robbe also in a weird spot a year and a half after them, and then Lucas VDH, Shay, and Elena all this school year. It's definitely a strange squad they've got going- and definitely a packed house, too- but Matteo wouldn't trade it for anything.

**Author's Note:**

> *adds all the couples up on my fingers*...there are nine, right? So the title works? Fantastic.
> 
> Alright, readers! This is my tribute to both Skam Austin and a long-rumored Latin American Skam, as well as an attempt to get some more female Isaks and Evens into the story. Things are getting a bit complicated with everyone involved, yeah, but I think there are ways to get couples separate from the main storyline or the group split off into easier-to-manage chunks.
> 
> Also, in case it's getting hard to keep track of (though I promise I'm not adding any more couples ever to this series- unless Skam does first- so at least that's a relief), here are the Evens/their "Minutes"/their interests:
> 
> Even, director, Bipolar  
> Joana, special effects/editing, Borderline  
> Nico, music/soundtrack design, Borderline  
> Eliott, storyboarding, Bipolar  
> Sander, scenery/photography, PTSD  
> David, directing/costumes, Transgender  
> Claire, dancing, Bipolar  
> Michaël, writing, Asexual  
> Flora, cooking, Depression
> 
> (With additions of PTSD for Robbe and depression for Matteo as well, even though they're not the Evens.)
> 
> Hope you guys all enjoyed! Feel free to leave a comment if you liked it or if you were able to follow the plot- I really hope it was easy enough to keep track of people/things in this fic. If it wasn't, feel free to comment about that too- constructive criticism is always appreciated too!


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